Posted: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:13 AM - 11,716 Readers

By: Oak Hill Gazette

In what State Rep. Valinda Bolton (D-47) called a victory for clean water, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) voted to deny a request by Leander and Granite Shoals to discharge treated wastewater into Lake Travis.

"This is a huge victory," Rep. Bolton said. "Over 1 million Central Texans will continue to have safe, clean water ・and our small business owners around Lake Travis, who've already taken a financial hit from the drought, will be spared the problems that lifting the ban would have caused them."

Leander and Granite Shoals asked that the state lift the ban on dumping treated wastewater into Lake Travis that had been in effect since 1984. Dozens of business and government leaders opposed the request, but Leander argued that allowing the installation of more septic systems would be more harmful that dumping treated wastewater. Leander City Engineer Wayne S. Watts said the treated wastewater would be of equal or greater quality than the water that's in the lake now.

Rep. Bolton, however, explained that it is not the quality of the wastewater, which has been treated for bacteria, but the fact that it contains nitrogen and phosphorus, both nutrients that cause plants to grow. "Lake Travis is recognized as one of the four clearest lakes in Texas. However, an increase in nitrogen and phosphorus ・would cause overgrowths of algae, with the result being a degradation of water quality and clarity," Rep. Bolton said.

This would reduce the recreational quality of the lake and cause a lot of Oak Hill and Lake Travis area businesses to lose customers, said Beth Byer, chairman of the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce, which opposed lifting the ban.

Rep. Bolton said 33 other wastewater facilities within the Lake Travis watershed use their wastewater to irrigate golf courses, parks and other green spaces.

Others opposed to lifting the ban included Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell; state representatives Elliot Naishtat, Dawnna Dukes, Eddie Rodriguez and Donna Howard; State Senator Kirk Watson; the Lower Colorado River Authority; Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; Travis County Commissioners; the City of Lakeway; Lakeway Municipal Utility District, the Village of Volente, and Travis County Water Control and Improvement District #17.